The History of the Akrathian Empire
Akrath Akrath was the city granted to men by Minyahir at the beginning of the world. It stood on a peninsula extending into the Sea of Enrac. The full story of the rise of Akrath is found in a separate article, entitled The Lay of Orun. Akrath's first ruler was a High Vinyar, one of the first beings created. His name was Nar-Vinyadir or Turiam. King Turiam was much loved by his people, and Akrath grew till it's people were scattered far beyond the Akrathian peninsula. Akrath soon grew to be the largest empire in all of Orun, even surpassing that of the Elves. For 1,239 years, Turiam ruled Akrath in peace. The Coming of Sidroth Sidroth (see Orun), seeing how prosperous Akrath had become, purposed to destroy this threat to his power. He dressed himself in the guise of an Elven monk, and made a "pilgrimage" to Akrath, in order to pay respect to the King. King Turiam soon became enamored with the flattery of Sidroth. Eventually, Turiam made "Narcos" (Sidroth's false name) his regent. Over time, Turiam fell into a great mental illness because of the poisonous words of Narcos. Narcos immediately declared himself king, and he began to commit unspeakable horrors throughout Akrath, revealing himself as Sidroth. Sidroth's Imprisonment As Sidroth continued his atrocities, Rynar, King Turiam's grandson, gathered an army to confront the Dark Lord. Sidroth heard of these plans, and mustered an army to meet his foe. The two powers met on the plain of Aclaris, where Sidroth was captured and his army destroyed by Rynar. At this defeat, Sidroth's dark enchantments on Turiam were broken, and the King laid a spell on Sidroth, so that he would always be hideous, never again to trick people into believing his evil disguises. The King also banished Sidroth from Akrath. While Sidroth was fleeing, however, Turiam changed his mind, sending out soldiers to capture his enemy once again. Sidroth was returned to Akrath, broken and humiliated, where he was imprisoned. There was great rejoicing in Akrath at this seemingly final defeat of a great foe. The Escape of Sidroth Meanwhile, Sidroth sat brooding in Turiam's dungeons over his misfortunes. 457 years passed this way, until Sidroth faded from earthly form, becoming a spirit of the malice he dwelled upon. Thus, he passed from the halls of Turiam, and his Dark Spirit fled to his old fortress of Wyrmenhard in the north. Sidroth's body was thrown from the walls of Akrath. Sidroth immediately bred an army of goblins and trolls to assail Turiam. The Battles of Akrath and Dorbad Sidroth began sending scouts by way of Dorbad to Akrath. Turiam soon learned of this and began sending scouts by the same route to Wyrmenhard. Many of the scouts of Akrath returned to the King, confirming his worst fear: that Sidroth yet lived. Turiam attempted to gather his army, but was too late, for Sidroth marched out of Wyrmenhard with his legions. Within two days, he had Akrath surrounded, and his goblins burned and pillages all the surrounding villages. Turiam shut himself up in the topmost tower of his castle. Before the year was out, Sidroth had nearly conquered his foe, but King Nurya of the Elves and King Narad of Kaleiri heard of the siege. They immediately joined forces and marched to Akrath. Sidroth's army was taken by surprise, and 239,000 goblins were slain before the walls of Akrath. Sidroth managed to escape destruction with 79,000 of his soldiers. Turiam, having watched the triumph of Nurya and Narad, descended from his tower. He gathered together his men, and the three powers, numbering over 700,000, set out in pursuit of Sidroth. Sidroth, meanwhile, took the Elven stronghold of Nuryath. He renamed it Dormad. There he gathered to himself every goblin and troll then living in the world. His army now numbered nearly 1,000,000. When Turiam, Nurya, and Narad at last reached Dormad, Sidroth prepared his horde. All of the armies met on the plain that surrounded Dormad. Nurya and Turiam drove directly for Sidroth, while Narad sought to waylay goblins that may try to escape. From the start of the battle, Sidroth had the upper hand. He slowly drove back Turiam, and he sent out a large part of his force to destroy King Narad. He let Nurya come directly to him, and just when the battle was thickest, he cut of the sovereign's means of escape. Nurya and his guards fell that day at the hand of the Dark Lord. The Elves, dismayed and nearly destroyed, were forced to flee from the battle and join the remnant of Kaleiri. Turiam was now the only one left strong enough to oppose Sidroth directly. As his enemies closed in around him, he repelled them with such ferocity, that some goblins and trolls actually fled the battlefield. At last Sidroth wearied of the battle, and so he took up his sword and went to do battle with Turiam. Turiam, upon seeing the foe who had caused him so much trouble, rushed at Sidroth, almost knocking the Dark Lord off his guard, but Sidroth was an able swordsman. He fought Turiam for several hours, during which time no one gained any advantage. The Men of Akrath and Kaleiri saw the King, and they gained hope. They renewed the attack on the goblins, who were driven back almost to the gates of Dormad. There, the Elves rejoined the Men, and the battle began to turn in favor of Akrath and her allies. But Turiam began to grow tired, and Sidroth flew at the King with a new fervor. Turiam tried to defend himself, but Sidroth prevailed upon him, driving him to the ground. There, he cut off Turiam's head and ascended a tall hill. There he held the head aloft to his warriors. The goblins were invigorated by this gruesome token, but the Men, seeing their king dead, drove back their enemies with more spirit than before. Sidroth then descended the hill to crush his opponents once and for all, but Nurya, who still had some life in him, stabbed Sidroth in the foot with a dagger as he passed. Sidroth fell to the ground in pain, surprised that any Man-made dagger could pierce his ghostly form. Nurya, with his last breath, drove a spear through Sidroth's chest. Only about 400 goblins escaped the massacre that day, and nearly 2,000 Men and Elves emerged from the battle victorious. The Reign of Peace With Sidroth destroyed, there was a great festival held throughout Akrath, followed by a period of mourning for the King. A new King was crowned, and his name was Narudram. Narudram was in no way related to Turiam, in fact, he had been one of the strongest political enemies of Turiam. Nevertheless, there was peace for over 700 years in Akrath during Narudram's reign. Once again, Akrath flourished, though it never reclaimed it's former glory. The Elves once again began to dwell in the forests, but they seldom showed their faces in a city, living only as hermits and monks. The Men began to call them the Wood Elves. The Men of Kaleiri never received a new king, but they appointed a Lord Protector to oversee the military. The Defiance of Kaleiri Now, the Lord Protector of Kaleiri, being a haughty Man, instituted the construction of a large fleet of warships to cross the Sea of Enrac. This was in direct defiance to Minyahir's orders (see Orun). When all was ready, the fleet set out, but King Narudram of Akrath knew that this defiance could only lead to trouble. Therefore, he intercepted the fleet of Kaleiri with his own warships. The Lord Protector was greatly enraged at this attack. He declared war on Akrath, and readied his troops to march on the city. Narudram, knowing that Kaleiri had the power to overthrow Akrath, had tunnels mined underneath sections of the Akrathian peninsula. Then Narudram gathered his army, and met the Lord Protector as he was burning and pillaging several leagues outside of Akrath. The battle that ensued at first was in favor of Narudram, but Fate soon turned the battle to favor Kaleiri. Knowing that defeat was imminent, Narudram ordered the tunnels under Akrath to be caved in. This was done, and most of the Akrathian peninsula sank into the sea leaving only three large islands. Both the armies of Narudram and Kaleiri were killed. Pre-Alaradian Years Akrath soon declared a new King, named Leiran, who constructed bridges across the Akrathian Isles, so as to allow the passage of the citizens to other parts of the land without being subject to the raids of the Kaleiri. Leiran's reign was riddled with internal strife and the war with Kaleiri. About 150 years into Leiran's life, the Lord Kurlac and his sons founded the city of Alarad, soon to become the greatest kingdom of the world, even surpassing Akrath. The Fall of Akrath Some historians consider Akrath to have been defeated when King Narudram was killed, but Leiran continued to hold power over the cities of Akrath and Alarad until his death. He died just a week before King Aladrac the Great of Alarad sent his army to help Akrath in defeating the pirates of Kaleiri. The reason why some consider the history to be over after Narudram is because the history is somewhat unknown after this point. Apparently, after Leiran's death, the people of Akrath either were killed or were driven off into exile, for King Aladrac found no one in Akrath when he arrived, save pirates and wandering rogues. These were soon driven away, and Aladrac returned to Alarad, the new center of power in the world. Related Links Alarad Major Wars The Kings of Alarad